


Selective Santas

by Of_Princes_and_Savages



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Christmas Fluff, Come and see, Leroy/Astrid, Lots of side characters, Multi, New Year's Kiss, Ruby/Dorothy - Freeform, Secret Santa, Snowing - Freeform, Swanfire - Freeform, side helpings of:
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-13 19:46:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16898811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Of_Princes_and_Savages/pseuds/Of_Princes_and_Savages
Summary: A community-wide Secret Santa sounded like a good idea at the time, and had just two simple rules: Stay secret, and no switching giftees. Sadly, when Belle participates, she finds out that "no-switching" rule is more of a suggesting to the people of Storybrooke...





	1. Giftee #1: The Drawing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Belle French is smitten with a certain patron, and is first up for Mary-Margaret's Secret Santa drawing.

The Friday after Thanksgiving, Belle had reopened the library and Mr. Gold had arrived right on schedule for a new novel, and a copy of...a fairy tale book, the kind with a compilation of the classics.

"Taking up a new genre Mr. Gold?" Belle smiled as she checked him out. The books, of course. Not him. No. Nope.

"Ah. Something like that," Mr. Gold chuckled. "My son pointed out that I didn't have very many books appropriate for a child, so I thought I'd make use of the public library."

"I didn't know you had a son." Belle blurted out. She was glad she didn't ask how old he was because Mr. Gold was in his late forties or so, and as he wasn't married that brought up the question of custody and partners and-

"He lives in New York, with his family. I go to visit them for some holidays, but this time of year they come to Storybrooke to get away from the traffic."

Oh A grown son. That made sense. "Oh! That sounds lovely, I should tell my friends in Boston about that. I dread going back and running into my father there."

"Ah, Boston. I could tell from your accent." Mr. Gold smirked, and oh, Belle hoped she wasn't as pink as she felt.

"Oh, er, well...I mean I'm not a native, but, that's where I went to high school and the like. Um...he wasn't very keen on my moving away...I probably won't be going home for Christmas." Actually the words "don't darken my doorstep until you give me an apology!" and "you better not ever need my help because I won't give it to an ungrateful girl like you!" were spoken, so the feeling was somewhat mutual.

"I suppose you could go to town hall instead." Mr. Gold's fingers brushed hers as she handed him back his library card. It scrambled her brain for just a second, so she didn't realize she had no idea what he was referring to.

"Why would I do that?"

Mr. Gold folded his hands on top of his cane. "You've heard of Miner's Day I'm sure?" It was one of the biggest festivals in Storybrooke, even though Belle had missed it this year she'd heard about it, yes. "Well, a few years before I came to town, those were shut down. The decline of the mines had been happening for some time but with the last miners out of work Storybrooke struggled to find it's feet for quite some time. The mayor at the time decided the community needed a morale booster, and hosted a Christmas party at town hall with a potluck dinner. It's sort of a community bonding experience now, my son drags me to it for an hour or so each year."

Belle smothered a giggle before it could come out. "Why Mr. Gold, you always seemed like such a social butterfly to me."

"I'm afraid my sparkling personality fooled you, then," he snorted. "I'm not exactly Ebenezer Scrooge, but my idea of a Christmas party is staying home with my family.

"Well, I might go over there, just for a bit maybe. It's always nice to meet new people."

* * *

Days later, one of those new people Belle had met some time ago, Mary-Margaret, had come forward at a town council meeting. Lots of Christmas business was being discussed, from the town parade to the craft bazaar. The head of the committee in charge of the community party, however, was Mary-Margaret, who was the daughter of Mayor Blanchard.

It was the thirtieth anniversary of the first Storybrooke Christmas Party, and Mary-Margaret announced her idea to make it somewhat special, and all in the spirit of the season.

"I've never done a Secret Santa before," Belle said, clearing off a spot on her desk. "How's it work?

"Well," Mary-Margaret patted the box in her arms, a nice big tree-themed one decorated with green construction paper and cut-out circles for ornaments. "You put your name on a sheet of paper, and stick it in the box. I mean, I've added some extra stuff like likes, dislikes, and allergies. I added that part because I don't want someone to give a pair of wool socks to somebody allergic to wool, you know?"

"Sounds sensible to me." Belle patted the clear spot on the desk. The box was large enough to sit on the floor, possibly, but after an incident with a food drive and someone tossing an empty soda can in with the canned goods, twice, Belle didn't want to take chances. "I'll get some pens for the paper."

In a very short span of time the Christmas-Box was set up on the front corner of Belle's desk in the library. Once the two women had cut up all the sign-up sheets, Belle filled one in and popped it into the slit cut in the top of the box. Mary-Margaret did the same and shook Belle's hand with a bright grin.

"This is going to be great! I've already got posters around town telling people about it, we'll hold the drawing here on Saturday. Or maybe at town hall?"

"Here is fine. I think I can round up some coffee and cookies or something to get people to turn up, too." Belle promised. "Is there anything I should know if someone has questions?"

Mary-Margaret thought for a moment. "Well, mostly the key is to not tell your giftee that they're your giftee, obviously. But you're also not allowed to switch, that defeats the purpose of drawing random names from the box. We're also going to try keeping the gifts under thirty dollars, but other than that, I'll cover the rules at the drawing. Thanks for letting me keep the box here, Belle, I think I'll let you draw the first name Saturday!"

Belle had almost forgotten that promise. She'd dutifully told her patrons about the event and was pleased with the amount of foot-traffic the library got from sign-ups, and provided two pots of hot coffee and some gingerbread cookies on Saturday when the whole town turned up to draw their giftee's name from the faux-velvet bag all the papers had been dumped in. Mary-Margaret beckoned her up to the front and someone from the Mirror snapped a picture of her reaching into the bag.

Belle's giftee was Tom Clark. He was the pharmacist, ran the Dark Star Drugstore further down the street from the library, and Leroy was pretty good friends with him. He liked to check fantasy novels at the library, so Belle was considering that. Especially since he had filled out so many things under the allergen part of the sign-up sheet that Belle was concerned of giving him the wrong thing and putting him in the hospital. She'd have to ask Leroy.

Only she never got that far...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This goofy holiday fic has been been brought to you through sheer luck and the fact that I forgot to sign up for RSS this year. It will be 3 or 4 chapters long, assorted pairings and characters to follow! Huzzah!


	2. Giftee #2-3: The Switching

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Belle is a good friend, and someone gets a phone call.

Ruby signed up for Secret Santa because she was friends with Mary-Margaret and foolishly thought it would be easy. She'd just give her giftee a free meal at Granny's Diner. And not going to get her skinned alive because Granny said that she'd fall back on the same thing if she wasn't sure what to get. Easy-peasy.

Only then, with her free coffee in one hand, (if the librarian gig ever fell through, she had to get Belle to work at the diner, she made great coffee,) and her other in the bag of names, Ruby drew out a name that made her stomach drop.

Technically it wasn't the name itself that had her feeling antsy. Em Gale was a sweet old lady who lived with her sweet old husband outside of town on a farm, a regular participant in bake-offs and a member of Granny's knitting club. Ruby could have gotten her yarn, or a cookbook, or still offered her and Mr. Gale a free dinner at the diner. She actually knew a lot of stuff Mrs. Gale would like, so that wasn't the problem.

No, the problem here was that since the Gales weren't as young as they used to be, their favorite niece had moved in from Kansas to help out on the farm.

Their favorite niece was named Dorothy. You didn't hear about a lot of Dorothy's these days so Ruby had envisioned her as a nondescript fortysomething at her youngest. Sweet merciful mother of god was she wrong.

Dorothy Gale had dark hair, dark eyes, loved dogs, and had biceps that made her want to cry a little. With a great deal of eye-rolling and patient smiling, Mary-Margaret offered to introduce them since the Gales lived next door to Ruth Nolan. The idea of actually being formally introduced to Dorothy had made the little gears in Ruby's bisexual brain grind to a halt where they'd been stuck ever since.

"Who did you get?" she half-demanded, half-begged of Belle once everyone had left the library.

"Tom Clark, the pharmacist," Belle said, looking her up and down with concern. Belle was sweet as could be, kind and understanding, and didn't have a judgmental bone in her body when it came to love. Or crushes that made you dumb. "Why? Who did you get? Is it Keith?"

Eww. "No, thank god, it's not that bad." Ruby squirmed all the same, looking down at Em Gale's name. "I got Mrs. Gale."

Belle hadn't met all of Storybrooke's citizens yet. The blank look, like she was trying to figure who that is and why it was a bad thing, had Ruby groaning.

"She's in Granny's knitting club...and she's Dorothy's aunt."

"As in your Dorothy's aunt?"

"She isn't _my_ Dorothy, don't say that, she's just-Well it's-I can't buy her aunt something! What if she hears it's from me?"

Belle blinked. "Ruby, I'm sorry, I don't follow. Wouldn't it be a good thing to be nice to Dorothy's aunt?"

"No! Well yes, but also no!" Ruby accidentally crumpled the piece of paper as she wrung her hands. Oops. "What if I get her the wrong thing, what if she thinks it's stupid, what if Dorothy thinks it was lazy or lame? I was going to give my giftee a free dinner at the diner, Belle, what if Dorothy came with them? I can't talk to Dorothy, the last time I took her order I gave her extra tomato when she said she didn't want any, I'll look like an idiot-"

"Okay, Ruby?" Belle put her small hands on her shoulders. "I'm going to need you to take a deep breath in, and out. Okay?"

Ruby did neither. Unless you count groaning as breathing.

She pressed her hands together, turning her most pleading eyes on Belle. "Will you _please_ switch with me? I promise Mrs. Gale is really nice and she put down all her likes on here, you can't go wrong, it's so much easier than figuring out something that won't trigger a sneezing fit in Tom Clark, I promise!"

Belle bit her lip. "Well I was starting to wonder about that..."

"So you'll switch?"

Belle worried at her lip for another minute or two. The only problem with Belle was that she didn't like to make gray choices. She was a strictly right-or-wrong girl, and going against Mary-Margaret's "no-switching" rule was probably eating at her. But she was also a good friend, and knew all about Ruby's awkward crush on Dorothy...

"Okay. Fine." She sighed, taking the wrinkled piece of paper from Ruby. "But don't you dare tell anybody."

* * *

When Ruby got back from the library, she mentioned switching giftees with Belle. "Who'd you get that needed switching?" Granny asked. It didn't escape her notice that her granddaughter wasn't looking directly at her.

"Oh, you know, just somebody..."

"Uh-huh. Anyone I know?" That was a trick question bigger than hell. If Granny Lucas didn't know everyone in Storybrooke, she knew most everyone. By name and reputation if nothing else.

"Just...someone. It doesn't matter. I've got Tom Clark now."

Granny shook her head, muttering under her breath about grown women acting like children and got ready for the next wave of customers. As things started to wind down, Granny slipped out the door while Ruby was busy "serving" Leroy, which probably meant exchanging bits of gossip. It bought her enough time to get across the street to the library at least.

Granny had planned on giving her giftee a free meal at the diner. Only...she'd drawn Ruby's name instead.

"Really?" Belle blinked. "Huh...somehow I didn't think that would be a possibility."

"Neither did I." Granny grumbled. "Can't exactly give Ruby a free meal when she works there and lives with me, can I? I was wondering if you'd switch with me. Who did Ruby give you?"

"Mrs. Gale."

Dorothy's aunt. Granny sighed, that Ruby of hers had always been hopeless when she was in love. At least this time she wasn't sneaking out her window, like she did in high school with that Peter boy. Well, sneaking out until she got caught after slipping and breaking her wrist, of course...

"I'll trade with you," Granny offered, "I know just what to get for Em, you can take Ruby. I'm giving her a scarf and fifty dollars, I don't know what to get her as a Secret Santa present."

"Well, I'll figure something out, I'm sure." Belle smiled. "I wasn't sure what to do for Mrs. Gale, anyway. I've only met her once or twice."

"Oh she's very nice, we're good friends. In the summer she helps bake the fruit pies that we sell in the diner, mostly because she won't give me the damn recipe." Not that Granny was giving up her cherry cake recipe anytime soon, either... "And, if you can believe it, she says Dorothy's just as bad as Ruby about their crush. Hmph. I find that hard to believe. Thanks anyway, Belle, next time you come by the diner there's a free hot cocoa in your future."

Belle smiled and bid her a farewell, and Granny returned to the diner. Ruby didn't notice she had left, or didn't mention it, at least, and the next day Granny went out to buy Em those ergonomic knitting needles from the craft store, the same kind she had that Em had been admiring a few weeks ago. There, perfect.

* * *

Meanwhile, far away in New York City, Neal Gold was watching six-year-old Henry scurry around in the snow with his friends when his cell phone rang.

He thought it was Emma. She mentioned something about possibly getting off early today and going out to eat, and that she'd call him when she was sure. However, it wasn't the picture of Emma's face dusted with snow from a sneak-attack by their son, caught in mid-laugh, flashing on his screen, (she hated that picture, he loved it,) it was a picture of an older man looking disapprovingly at the camera like he wasn't amused by having his picture taking.

Because he wasn't, that day. For similar reasons to Emma's snowy picture, Neal kept it because he thought it was a funny picture of his father.

"Hey Pops, what's up?"

_"Neal...have you ever done Secret Santa?"_

"Ah...oh, yeah, once in college. Somebody in our dorm thought it would be a good idea. It might've been more of a white elephant party, though, I got one of those hats with the silly-straws attached? Why?"

 _"Jefferson signed me up against my wishes-"_ Neal wasn't exactly sure how or when Jefferson got to be friends with Pops, but it was good for him to have a friend so who was he to complain? Anybody else to sign him up for something like that would probably be buried in the woods, _"-and I'm not sure what to do for...this person."_

"Well, is it anyone I know?" Neal thought about it for a moment. "Do they owe you money?"

_"Fortunately no, that would be the only thing to make this more difficult..."_


	3. Giftees #?: Belle Lost Count

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the eight or ninth time is the charm, sort of?

An hour or two after Granny, Will Scarlet dropped by the library. He'd drunkenly broken into the library once, (so drunk he couldn't even remember why it was a good idea,) and was found curled up on the rug in the kid's area the next morning. It wasn't the strangest beginning to a friendship Belle had ever had,-there was Merida who'd knocked her unconscious accidentally,-and every now and then Will would drop by the library during operating hours to say hi and ask for some sound advice.

After exchanging pleasantries, Belle noticed him fidget on his feet. That was his nervous tic, he had something pressing and a tad awkward on his mind, so she decided to put him out of his misery: "Is there something you wanted to ask me?"

"Ah...right, well," Will scratched behind one of his rather prominent ears. "See, now you know how I've got a bit of a reputation with some of the girls down at the Rabbit Hole?"

Yes. Belle had been warned by several girls that Will Scarlet could be an incredible cad when it came to dates, (they were so _not_ dating though,) but he was currently fixated on making things work with Anastasia so thankfully he hadn't gone around sneaking out fire escapes recently. "Well Ruby still has a reputation with the guys down there and she hasn't done anything worth mentioning in the time I've been here, so what's the Rabbit Hole got to do with Secret Santa?"

"I've got, um, well I happened to draw the name of a girl who...well...ah, let's just say the only way I could give her what she wants for Christmas if my head were to detach and sit on a spike."

Belle sighed. "So you had a one-night stand and she assumed it was going to be more than that?"

"Will you please switch giftees with me? Please Belle?" Will begged. "I'm desperate here, love, I'll even dust the whole library from top to bottom if that's what it takes. I don't care if you've got bloody Gold, I'll take anybody else, anybody."

"Well that depends, have you ever done anything to Ruby Lucas?"

Will's eyes lit up. "Perfect! I've never touched her and I know what kind of wine she likes, I'll get her a bottle of that."

Belle sighed, relinquishing her third giftee in exchange for the fourth. Sylvia Ferrier. Belle vaguely recalled her name on a library card, could just picture her face. Very pretty girl, dark hair, liked to wear silver jewelry. It wasn't anywhere in the thirty-dollar spending cap to get silver jewelry, of course, but maybe Belle could figure something out?

She'd have to, because Will was wise enough to know being her Secret Santa was a terrible idea, and Sylvia undoubtedly would set whatever he gave her on fire. At least this way everyone was happy. And the fire department wasn't involved.

But Belle was beginning to sense a troubling pattern...

* * *

Ariel was drawing a blank.

She usually loved Secret Santa, so she'd signed up for the one at the shop she worked at, (it was really just six employees, but still,) and the one for the town hall party. But there was a problem with her town hall giftee: She'd never really met them before.

Storybrooke was a small town and even if Ariel had lived there for three years, she didn't _know_ everyone. Ruby Lucas had been born and raised in Storybrooke and she still wasn't familiar with everyone outside of what they might order at the diner. And Ariel had the misfortune of picking someone she'd never met: Anton Villaverde.

He lived outside of town on one of the little farms, mostly growing vegetables but also tending to a tiny herd of three goats and a couple of chickens. Someone had described him as tall, heavyset and broad, and "kinda fuzzy", whatever that meant, but everyone agreed he was a gentle giant. Eventually, Ariel went to Belle for advice.

Belle was the librarian, still relatively new to Storybrooke, but she also knew a little bit about everyone's reading interests since she had to check out their books, so, Ariel was hoping she could point her in the right direction.

Fortunately, Belle was in the same boat. She drew Sylvia, that girl who acted as lifeguard at the pool, and she knew _nothing_ about her. But Ariel did because she and Sylvia were both avid swimmers and Sylvia was a frequent customer at the Treasure Trove, the shop Ariel worked out.

"I think Anton's pretty good friends with Leroy," Belle mentioned. "Maybe you could ask him?"

"I have a better idea!" Ariel beamed. "Let's switch! I'll take Sylvia, and you take Anton."

Belle sighed, searching for the piece of paper with Sylvia's name on it. "Yeah, sure. Here you go..."

* * *

David had been seventh to participate in the town-wide Secret Santa his wife had arranged. She hadn't drawn a name, opting to act as moderator instead and encouraging people to come to her if they had any trouble. But this wasn't trouble David felt comfortable bringing to her.

Katherine Midas had been David's girlfriend through all of college. That was about four years of dating, so when certain people started pressing him to propose he'd done it because it seemed like a good idea at the time. Four years of dating was more than enough time to get to know somebody you'd spend the rest of your life with, right? Well...turns out who you were in college didn't exactly match who you were in the real world, and in the real world, Katherine and David were good, compatible friends that just...didn't click as a married couple?

Then Mary-Margaret Blanchard came back to town and David fell head over heels in love with her in the middle of his divorce proceedings with Katherine. He'd done some stupid stuff like forgetting to mention the divorce wasn't finalized and not mentioning it to Katherine, and by the time she found out she'd slapped Mary-Margaret and accused him of cheating _while_ married and then Mary-Margaret had gotten furious and stonewalled him for three whole months because he hadn't told the _actual_ truth and-

Everything worked out in the end of course. Katherine went to law school in Boston for a bit, came back to Storybrooke with a husband named Jim who was mutually in love with her, Mary-Margaret miraculously forgave him for being such a moron and they went to some pre-marital counselling to ensure everything was square before they got married. It was fine.

But there was an unspoken rule between the three of them that they would _never_ dredge it up, and although Secret Santa didn't involve much dredging, David was kind of worried it might go over badly all the same.

Ruby Lucas was one of Mary-Margaret's best friends, (she put salt in his coffee for one of those three months and he couldn't do anything but sit and drink it,) so he delicately broached the subject with her during a slow morning at the diner a few days after the drawing. Ruby's face said it all: _Better not do that._

"Would you mind switching with me, then?" David asked. "Who did you get?"

"Tom Clark." The man who'd been nicknamed Sneezy by kids who went to the pharmacy? "But...I had to switch, too. Maybe you should ask around, see if anyone else is dissatisfied with their pick."

Will Scarlet was two seats down from them, not drinking brandy from his coffee cup so obviously not hungover this morning. "You could try Belle over at the library?" he suggested. "She switched with me, I heard she switched with somebody else too."

Ruby opened her mouth and snapped it shut again. "Uh..."

"Maybe I will," David said, considering it. He was sure he'd heard from someone that Katherine was in that book club that met at the library. Maybe Belle would buy her a book or something...it just depended on who he'd get in return. "I think I'll head over there later, thanks for the suggestion."

* * *

Zelena Greene didn't go to the library very often. She couldn't stand the librarian, who everyone thought was so sweet. Please.

No woman wore skirts that shorts with heels that high without wanting attention. It was pathetic. Even sadder was how you could see the girl kept looking at Mr. Gold, like he'd ever be interested in a bite-sized tart like her. The only reason Mr. Gold even gave her a second glance was because of her short skirts, Zelena was sure of it.

Zelena was walking home, and the library was on her way. She had no intentions of going inside the doors so tackily decorated with paper snowflakes, but Belle French was out front there locking up and talking with that redheaded shrink with the dog. Hopper? Whatever. She was set to walk by and give the dog a wide berth, but she couldn't help but hear their conversation.

"...I'll take Leroy, then," Belle said, her voice not as obnoxiously helpful as usual. If anything she sounded exhausted, weird. "And you take Katherine."

"Alright, thanks Belle! I wasn't sure what I was going to do, Leroy and I don't exactly have a lot in common-"

"No, no, it's fine," she put on a smile. "At least I actually know Leroy."

Was that...was that a hint of sarcasm? Zelena rolled her eyes as she passed by. Obviously there was a lot of switching going on with that Secret Santa nonsense. Zelena hadn't bothered to sign up because she had no interest in attending the town hall's party either, she would be going to New York on a lovely vacation away from these backwater oafs in a modern, sophisticated city while they stayed at home and...did whatever it was they did.

She'd invited Mr. Gold to come along. He was the only person she could imagine would appreciate getting out of town, but unfortunately he turned out to be a bit of a scrooge this time of year. Ah well. She'd make it her New Year's resolution to win him over.

* * *

Astrid tripped over the threshold coming into the library. She didn't always do that, just when she was in a hurry.

She heard from her friend Tink, who heard from her fellow Rabbit's Hole waitress Liz, who heard it from her drinking buddy Will, that Belle had switched giftees with him. Or with David Nolan. Or someone. That was yesterday and Astrid hoped that Belle hadn't bought, er, someone a present yet.

Astrid had thought that Secret Santa would be a charity thing. In the town she lived at before, there was a charity set up every Christmas where you signed up to act as Santa for a child in need and you bought them like a coat or some new shoes and a toy. She'd signed up for it, thinking it was kind of weird that they asked about your likes, dislikes, and allergies, sure, but assumed that was just to make sure you weren't matched up with a kid who liked peanuts when you were allergic to them.

That was kinda stupid in hindsight. When Mary-Margaret explained the rules and that she'd have to find a present for another citizen of Storybrooke, Astrid had panicked a little. Especially when she drew a name that she knew nothing about, and four days of puzzling just left her with a sore puzzler.

The only person she could think to switch with was Belle, and hearing she was open to exchanging giftees just had Astrid hurrying out the door to reach the library bright and early. Early enough that she was probably the first one in the door after Belle opened up for the day.

"Hello Astrid," Belle smiled. "What's the rush?"

"Um, well," Astrid fished in her purse for the piece of paper with her giftee on it. "I was wondering, um, well I heard you'd switched-"

"Oh Astrid, _please_ , not you too!" Belle groaned. "I can't keep switching with everybody, I've had seven giftees already. No, it was eight. Or was it seven? See? I've lost count!"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, but I just thought that you'd want this one," Astrid said holding the paper out. From a safe distance. "See, I wasn't sure what to get him but I don't have a grudge against him like a lot of people in town do. I asked Tink if she wanted it but she's sticking with hers, so I didn't target you. Exactly. You're friends with him-"

Belle sighed. "Who is it?" she took the piece of paper. "I can't think of anyone who could have so many people against..." the name on the paper itself was rather short, but she was quiet for some time. "...oh."

Astrid was a little intimidated by the black suits and the impassive mask he wore on his face when dealing with townspeople, sure, but she didn't live in one of his buildings, and she'd never owed him money. Unfortunately, she also hadn't a single clue on what to buy Mr. Gold. And it said he liked reading.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh...what will happen next? :)
> 
> By-the-by, Sylvia Ferrier is Silvermist, the fairy from OUAT in Wonderland that Will slept with...and subsequently dropped him and Alice halfway across the lake. I planned on Zelena trying to weasel Mr. Gold as her giftee but couldn't quite get that to gel together, so instead she'll be out of town altogether. I call that a win. :)


	4. The Exchange of Gifts: Merry Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which presents are exchanged and no one is more surprised than Gold is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Boxing Day/Kwanza/December 26th! Reasons this update are late are quite simple: I had a short bit of writing to do to finish it, and because we were at my grandparents house where I was somehow put in charge of cooking a rib roast, and they don't have wi-fi anyway. But I hope everyone had a pleasant yesterday, and now, we finish:

He could ignore the looks that some people gave him because of the gift bag. That was Henry's doing. His six-year-old grandson had woken up bright and early and energetic that morning, to the chargrin of his exhausted parents. So Gold had kept him occupied, and Henry had decided that the present absolutely had to go into this bag. Gold wasn't even really sure where it came from, but, it was the contents he was far more worried about.

Neal had encouraged Gold to "stop overthinking it, if worst comes to worst, put ten bucks into a card" but fortunately he did have a gift idea. Or unfortunately. Because he only had the one idea, something he found in his purchases from an estate sale he'd meant to put in the shop, and it was far too late to change it as he was actively walking through the party to set the bag on a table.

Plus Henry was pulling him to the table.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon Grandpa!" Henry chanted, lugging the bag with one hand and pulling him along with the other. "C'mon!"

"I'm coming Henry, I'm right behind you," Gold chuckled. He wasn't sure where Neal and Emma had gone, but he imagined they would go to catch up with some of Neal's friends who were still in town. Or maybe they were snickering at their little son dragging his grandfather around. "Careful with the bag, now."

"I am!" Henry said, the bag just narrowly missing smacking against Dorothy Gale if she hadn't stepped aside. Fortunately there was nothing breakable in there. But still...Gold was still nervous about it. Not just getting damaged, either.

When Belle French moved into town, Gold hadn't known what to expect. Librarians were rarely young, charming, Australian brunettes in his experience. He found it quite a blessing she was so outgoing and passionate about literature. Mostly because the first time he crossed her in the library with some novel in his hands, she'd led him to a different section explaining that this book here was much better, not giving him a chance to stand there staring with his mouth hanging open.

Their ritual of her suggesting books and him taking them home began after that. He'd entertained the thought of asking her out on occasion, sure. Everything from working up the nerve to sitting with her at the counter at Granny's to, at his lowest, making a cheesy comment about making a recommendation of his own, that they go on a date. In his defense he'd been a bit drunk the night he thought of that scenario. And still thought it was bad.

Ugh...

Gold wished he could borrow some enthusiasm from his grandson about this evening...

* * *

Mary-Margaret smiled at the turnout, tapping on the microphone to gain their attention. It was always a good turnout for this holiday party, but she could feel the excitement in the room tonight.

"Hello everyone and welcome to our Town Hall Holiday Party!" she cheered. "My father, Leo Blanchard, started this party with the community in mind and thirty years later, I couldn't be prouder that we're all here together celebrating together. This year I'd like to give a big thanks to everyone who participated in our first-ever Secret Santa, too, thank you guys so much! With that in mind, without further ado, let's get straight to that!"

She went over to the table and picked up the first bag closest to her: One with a rather obvious wine bottle poking out. "The first present is for...Ruby Lucas, from Dorothy Gale!"

Because Ruby was wearing a pair of blinking, light-up antlers, it was easy to spot her. It made it easier to spot her when she glowed bright red and was pushed to the front of the crowd by Belle French and Ariel Benton, both giggling at her. She stumbled up and took the present bag, scurrying out of sight as quick as she could. Mary-Margaret swallowed back a giggle of her own because she couldn't believe Ruby's luck: A gift from her crush. What were the odds?

* * *

"I thought you had Ruby?" David muttered to Will, who was not-so-secretly dribbling something alcoholic into his cup of punch.

Will just shrugged. "Meh. I traded with Dorothy for John Little. I'd be surprised if anyone in town actually stuck with their first draw."

* * *

Roughly half the people in attendance ended up participating in Secret Santa. Belle was surprised. Some of the matches were a bit odd: Mayor Mills struggled to keep a neutral expression when Faye Blue was her giftee and Marco was very gracious about the fuzzy pink socks he ended up with.

Someone hooted when it was revealed Astrid and Leroy were both each other's giftees. Belle had been aware that Astrid was getting him something since, of course, they'd switched, but she hadn't known Leroy was assigned to her. She wondered what he gave her, as far as she knew, Leroy tried to lock up that crush he had on Astrid in an air-tight box at the bottom of his heart. Without success, but, he tried to hide it.

Speaking of hiding and switched assignments...

Belle came empty-handed to the party, in a red-and-white striped sweater dress Ruby said made her look like a mini-candy cane. (Anyone wearing antlers shouldn't have room to talk...) It wasn't that she didn't know what to get Mr. Gold, more of...more of it couldn't be packaged.

She had tried to find him before the...the gifting, she supposed you'd call it, yes, before the gifting started, but she'd been a bit late because her friend Merida called to wish her a happy Christmas Eve and it was so rare they got to talk she almost forgotten the time. She couldn't easily spot Mr. Gold in the crowd, either, and it made her feel like a heel when she was the the very last person called to the front.

"And finally we have Belle French's present," Mary-Margaret said, picking up the last bag, one with a reindeer dancing on it, and grinning. "The first one to draw a name is the last one to get their present, that's pretty neat! Belle, your Secret Santa was...Mr. Gold?"

The questioning note on the end of that wasn't missed. The room quieted, just for a second, and Belle went up front to accept her bag with her head held up. Mr. Gold's standing in town was almost one of stock villain: Boo, my landlord made me pay rent, it's not fair that I had to repay my loan on time, how cruel of him to repossess the car I put up as collateral because I didn't repay the loan. To the townsfolk who put great stock in his reputation, they were probably stunned he had bothered to participate at all.

She spotted him while she was at the front, and made her way towards him as Mary-Margaret began her wrap-up speech thanking all the participants. He was standing at the back of the room, by the buffet table of potluck offerings, with a man who had his eyes, a blonde woman, and a little boy who had cupcake icing smeared on his face.

"Merry Christmas!" The boy chirped. "Open your book!"

"Hey kiddo," the young man scooped up the boy quickly. "Let's go hose you off, huh?"

The blonde woman smiled, nodding to Belle. "That was Neal, and our little big-mouth is Henry. I'm Emma."

"Oh, pleased to meet you," Belle shook her hand. "Belle French, I'm the librarian in town."

"So I hear, maybe we'll visit before we leave." Emma said, taking a step back. "Excuse me..."

Mr. Gold fidgeted with his cane, looking after his daughter-in-law with something like a hint of distress in his eyes. Belle wasn't sure over what, though. "Ah...yes. So, that would be my son and his family. Henry's something of a reader, they probably will come to the library."

"Oh. Well, I look forward to it. Speaking of reading..." Belle looked down at her gift bag, biting her lip shyly. "I suppose I got a hint at what this is..."

She shifted the tissue paper aside to pull out a book. It was bound in leather, the pages slightly yellowed, which automatically raised her interest before she even saw the cover: Her Handsome Hero.

"This is..." Belle could have said it was a wonderful present, said it was so thoughtful of Mr. Gold to remember her talking about this book, said it was so sweet of him to actually find a copy of her mother's favorite book that Belle had forgotten back in Boston. Instead she stupidly blurted out: "Oh Mr. Gold, this couldn't have been thirty dollars, you really shouldn't have."

Mr. Gold shrugged, a tiny smile curling the corners of his mouth. "Ah...well, strictly speaking you could say it only cost me fifty cents. It was thrown in with a lot of books I recently purchased from an estate sale, roughly a hundred books for fifty dollars...hence, fifty cents."

Belle opened her mouth, but snapped it shut again. Was she really going to keep saying "you shouldn't have" when obviously he did and she really did love this book, it was possibly the best gift she'd gotten in some time?

"Then...then thank you," she hugged the book against her chest, comforted by the familiar size and shape. "It's perfect, thank you very much. Um...I suppose it's time I gave you your present, now."

Mr. Gold's brows furrowed together. "Present?"

"Well, um, I'm your Santa." Belle smiled. "Surprise."

"You...oh."

"And, um, well...I, um, well that is, what I had in mind doesn't exactly get wrapped up in a neat little bow, exactly. See, um, I was actually thinking...since...that since..."

"BELLE!"

Ruby bounced up to Belle, her lipstick smeared a bit around the huge grin on her face. "Belle! Belle! Guess who just got a Christmas kiss AND has a date for New Years! It's me! Woohoo-Oh. Merry Christmas Mr. Gold."

"Miss Lucas," Mr. Gold nodded serenely, "congratulations to you, and Miss Gale."

"Yeah, way to go Ruby," Belle squeezed her hand. "I'll come celebrate with you in just one minute okay?"

Ruby looked from her to Gold, her eyebrows rising up but the excitement over her awkward feelings for Dorothy being returned outweighed whatever she was thinking, so she just walked away from them. Belle was genuinely happy for her friend, but all the courage she'd been building up had suffered a hit. She just had to spit it out. That's it. All she had to do was say the words and then-

"Would you like to be my date?"

"What?"

Damn it. "I-I mean...to New Years? Would you like to go? With me?" Belle swallowed, holding on to her book for dear life.

Mr. Gold stared at her for a length of time, his mouth gaping and his brown eyes blinking. Belle couldn't say if it were seconds or minutes they spent like that, her squirming under his gob-smacked gaze, but then, finally, then he nodded. Slowly.

"I…" he stopped nodding, giving his head a sharp shake. "Yes. Absolutely. I'll...I would like that."

"Really?"

A nervous little laugh escaped Gold. "I would love to, Belle. I would love to very much."

A massive grin overtook Belle's face, then, something warm and bright filling an empty place in her chest behind the book.

* * *

The ball dropped on the TV that had been set up on Granny's Diner's counter for the partygoers on December 31st, at the stroke of midnight. Silvery tinsel hung from the ceiling, catching all the lights in the restaurant that also lit up the sparkling party hats and novelty glasses the patrons may or may not have been wearing.

Belle French was curled up in a booth at midnight, her shiny silver pumps under the table and a dark coat wrapped around her shoulders that was not hers. It belonged to Mr. Gold, who was also in the booth, his hands cupping Belle French's jaw as she kissed him as cheers from the other patrons who weren't kissing their loved one rang out.

It was probably the best Christmas present he'd ever received.


End file.
